Systems for expression of heterologous proteins in M. capsulatus

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to an expression system for the expression of proteins and peptides in a methanotrophic bacterium, preferable the  M. capsulatus . Further, the invention relates to the exportation and display of said peptides and proteins on the surface of said bacteria. The invention also describes a method for the production of a desired protein in the  M. capsulatus.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the expression of heterologous proteins in the bacteria M. capsulatus. More specifically, the present invention relates to the exportation and display of polypeptides and proteins on the surface of said bacteria.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The expression of polypeptides on the surface of bacteria and bacteriophage has been pursued for several years, in part because of interest in recombinant antibody production. Many other potential applications exist, including the production of genetically-engineered whole cell adsorbents, construction of “peptide libraries”, cell bound enzymes, and use as live vaccines or immunogens to generate antibodies.

In bacteria, one approach to obtaining surface expressed foreign proteins has been the use of native membrane proteins as a carrier for a foreign protein. In general, most attempts to develop methods of anchoring proteins on a bacterial surface have focused on fusion of the desired recombinant polypeptide to a native protein that is normally exposed on the cell's exterior with the hope that the resulting hybrid will also be localized on the surface.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention also provides an expression system where a heterologous polypeptide (termed “desired” protein) is expressed in the bacteria Methylococcus capsulatus. The heterologous protein is preferably linked to one of the outer membrane proteins in M. capsulatus. These outer membrane proteins have been identified based on sequence homology studies, and the novel sequences of these proteins are claimed.

The identified sequences given as SEQ ID NO 1 to SEQ ID NO 4 are nucleotides which codes for the proteins MopC, MopD, MopE and MopF, respectively. The present invention further claims the sequence given in SEQ ID NO 5, which is identified as D15, and the sequences given as SEQ ID NO 6 to SEQ ID NO 14 as these sequences are identified as helper proteins.

The present invention thus relates to a nucleotide molecule wherein the molecule has a sequence which codes for a nucleotide sequence selected from the group comprising SEQ ID NOS 1–14. Preferable the nucleotide molecules codes for a surface exposed protein.

The nucleotide molecule is further linked in frame to the nucleotide molecule which codes for a desired peptide or protein. This protein may be a drug.

The present invention also relates to a recombinant vector comprising a first nucleotide sequence selected from the group comprising SEQ ID NO 1 to SEQ ID NO 14.

The present invention also relates to a recombinant vector, wherein the nucleotide sequence further comprises a second nucleotide sequence.

Further, the invention relates to a bacterial host cell transformed with the recombinant vector. Preferably, the bacterial cell is M. capsulatus.

Further, the invention relates to a method for producing a desired protein in a bacterial host cell, said method comprising transforming a bacterial host cell with a recombinant vector comprising a first nucleotide sequence from the group comprising SEQ ID NO 1 to SEQ ID NO 14, and said vector comprising a further nucleotide sequence encoding said protein, said further nucleotide sequence being operably linked in frame to said first nucleotide sequence, and culturing said transformed host cell in a suitable medium under conditions allowing expression of said protein.

A preferred embodiment of the invention uses the method to produce a medicament which can be administered orally.

The invention also relates to proteins capable of being exposed on the surface of a methonotrophic bacterium, wherein the protein is encoded by a nucleotide sequence selected from the group comprising SEQ ID NO 1 to SEQ ID NO 14, and fusion proteins containing a protein or peptide sequence encoded by a nucleotide sequence selected from the group comprising SEQ ID NO 1 to SEQ ID NO 14, and a further desired protein or peptide.

The broadest concept claimed in the present invention is a system for the expression of heterologous proteins in the M. capsulatus. We have shown that it is possible to express a protein portion of a virus in the M. capsulatus, and the present invention thus for the first time describes an expression system in said bacterium.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an expression system where the desired heterologous protein is presented on the surface of the bacterial cells. We have thus identified several membrane proteins which can be used as transporter proteins for the desired heterologous passenger proteins, in order to translocate the desired protein to the membrane. Preferable the desired proteins are located on the outer side of the membrane.

The fusion protein according to the invention is preferable expressed from a chimeric DNA having a DNA segment encoding a leader amino acid sequence capable of mediating secretion of the fusion protein, a DNA segment encoding for subunits of the surface protein, and a DNA segment encoding the desired target protein. The DNA segments are positioned such that expression of the fusion protein results in display of the target protein on the surface of the cells. The fusion proteins are preferably anchored to the cell surface of the bacteria forming what is referred to as a “display bacteria.”

The present invention thus provides for a system for the expression of heterologous proteins, where the heterologous proteins are expressed on the surface of the bacterial cells.

The chimeric DNA may be integrated into the bacterial cell chromosome or be carried by a vector. In certain preferred embodiments, expression of the fusion protein may be regulated by an inducible promoter. Bacteria displaying a particular protein may be selected, for example, using antibody affinity. The fusion protein can be detached from selected cells. If desired, the target protein may be separated from the surface protein and further purified.

Target proteins useful in the present invention include peptides, proteins, e.g., hormones, enzymes, inhibitors, and receptors, antigens, antibodies including antibody fragments and single-chain antibodies.

The present invention thus provides a system for the expression of heterologous proteins in the membrane fraction, and preferable on the cell surface of the M. capsulatus.

The bacterium M. capsulatus is able to utilise methane as a single carbon and energy source. Bacteria capable of oxidising methane is collectively referred to as methanotrophs. They belong to different families and groups of the eubacteria but have in common the possession of the unusual enzyme methane monooxygenase, which catalyses the oxidation of methane to methanol.

The bacterium has an obligate requirement for methane or methanol and an optimum growth temperature of 45° C. Methane is oxidized via methanol to formaldehyde which is either assimilated into cellular biomass or dissimilated to carbon dioxide to release cellular energy.

M. capsulatus has a gram-negative cell envelope. Much of the intracellular space is occupied by an extensive intracytoplasmic membrane system. The genome of M. capsulatus (Bath) has a molecular weight of 2.8×109 Da and a G+C content of 62.5%.

Commercial interests involving M. capsulatus and other methanotrophs could roughly be divided into two categories: Those taking advantage of the inexpensive growth requirements of the bacteria and those taking advantage of unique catalytic activities possessed by the bacteria.

The development of high-cell density fermentation technology for M. capsulatus has created the possibility of producing large quantities of specialised compounds like amino acids, cofactors, vitamins, metabolic end products, and various high value proteins, at reasonable costs.

The present invention thus provides a system for the manufacturing of such product.

Other uses for the protein display methods of the present invention include, for example, epitope mapping, screening of antibody libraries and live bacterial vaccines.

In a co-pending application, the inventors of the invention provide data for several of the genes in the genome of the Methylococcus capsulatus. Some of these genes are sharing significant homology with genes encoding surface proteins in other bacteria, and the proteins encoded by these genes could be used in an expression system to transport heterologous proteins to the surface of methanotrophic bacteria. These findings are exemplified by the establishing of a fusion protein of MopE from M. capsulatus and the VP2 proetin of the infectious pancreatic necrosis (IPN) virus, as detailed in the experimental section.

The invention is especially suited for production of vaccines that can be administered orally for use in animals, fish and humans. The technique can also potentially be used for display of vaccines, especially for oral administration.

The invention relates to the use of the genes and the proteins encoded by them, as given in the accompanying sequences list, fragments thereof, or functionally equivalent substantially homologous genes, for construction of fusion proteins carrying foreign peptide sequences for display in the M. capsulatus, and preferable on the surface of said bacterium.

“Substantially homologous” as used herein defines sequences displaying at least 80% sequence identity and also functionally equivalent allelic variants and related genes modified by single or multiple base substitutions or addition and/or deletion.

Surface proteins in accordance with the present invention are the outer membrane proteins MopC (SEQ ID NO 1), Mop D (SEQ ID NO 2), MopE (SEQ ID NO 3) and MopF (SEQ ID NO 4).

Further, one of the genes (SEQ ID NO 5) encodes a homologue of a surface protein-antigen (sometimes termed D15) identified in a variety of Gram-negative bacteria.

Further, the present inventors have identified several proteins involved in the presentation of the above mentioned proteins on the surface. These proteins are in this context termed “helper proteins”, and are encoded by the sequences SEQ ID NO 6 to 14.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The results obtained are given in the FIGS. 1–5, wherein:

FIG. 1 shows the two fusion constructs cloned in Methylococcus capsulatus.

FIG. 2 presents the Western blot treated with anti-MopE antiserum of M. capsulatus grown in low-copper medium. Cells contained no plasmid (lane 1), plasmid pJB3KM1 (lane 2), Construct a (lane 3), and Construct b (lane 4).

FIG. 3 is the SDS-PAGE of M. capsulatus grown in high and low copper media. High copper (lane 1) and low copper cells (lane 2) grown in fermentor (kindly provided by CJ Murrell, University of Warwick). The cells run in lanes 3, 4, 5 and 6 are identical to those of lanes 1, 2, 3, and 4 in FIG. 2, respectively.

FIG. 4 shows the Western blot treated with anti-MopE antiserum of M. capsulatus grown in high copper medium. Cells contained Construct b (lane 1), Construct a (lane 2), plasmid pJB3KM1 (lane 3), and no plasmid (lane 4).

FIG. 5 shows the Western blot treated with anti-MopE Antiserum of outer membranes isolated from M. capsulatus grown in low copper medium Cells. contained plasmid pJB3KM1 (lane 1) and Construct b (lane 2).

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

The M. capsulatus surface-antigen homologue (D15) is a large protein with a molecular weight about 80 kD sharing about 50% sequence identity with the corresponding protein from Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The similarity with other Gram-negative bacteria is in the range 39 to about 20% identity. These bacteria include many important human pathogens, like Vibrio cholerae (39% identity), Shigella flexneri (38% identity), Neisseria meningitidis (36% identity), Haemophilus influenzae (32%), Campylobacter jejuni (23%), Borrelia burgdorferi (21%), and animal pathogens such as Pasteurella multocida (34%) and Brucella abortus(28%). When used for immunization of experimental animals, the D15 protein from H. influenzae and P. multocida has been shown to trigger an immune response that protects the immunized animals against infection by the respective bacteria.

Thus, the D15 antigen as a protein class has proven to be an immunogenic protein, and use of the D15 antigen as a vaccine against a variety of diseases caused by Gram negative bacteria is a promising idea. Many other pathogens within the genera Vibrio and Shigella, as well as related genera, probably also possesses a D15 antigen, but have not yet been characterized by sequencing of their genes. Several important fish pathogens which belong to genus Vibrio and the related genus Aeromonas, probably also contain this antigen. There is a great demand for efficient and inexpensive vaccines for protection against infections caused by all the bacteria mentioned above, and many more could be listed.

M. capsulatus is a bacterium licensed for use in animal and fish feed. It has no virulent or pathogenic properties, and contains very low amounts of endotoxin (LPS). It is thus well suited as a carrier organism for recombinant oral vaccines, with a potential also for use in humans. Vaccines could be constructed by insertion of fragments of D15 genes from pathogens into the M. capsulatus D15 gene in order to display a fusion-protein containing parts of the two D15 antigens on the surface of M. capsulatus. The part of the D15 protein originating from the pathogen should trigger an immune response to the respective pathogenic bacterium. If replacement of M. capsulatus-specific D15 sequences with corresponding sequences from the pathogens is well tolerated by the host, larger regions of D15 could be replaced, and if possible, the entire D15 protein could be replaced by the corresponding protein from a pathogen.

Due to the sequence conservation of D15 among distantly related bacteria, exchange of parts of the gene (or the entire gene) without seriously affecting the survival and growth of M. capsulatus is plausible. The specific function of the D15 antigen on the surface of the bacteria is not known, but it possibly plays a structural role and is most probably not involved in any important biochemical processes.

Successful display of the target protein on the cell surface can be detected using a number of methods, for example, if the target peptide can be specifically labeled by a procedure that does not operate through the membrane, its cell surface display can be readily demonstrated.

If the target polypeptide displays enzymatic activity, one may use such activity to demonstrate cell surface display. Antibodies against the target protein may also be used.

The chimeric DNA may be integrated into the host cell chromosome or be carried within a vector. Methods of integrating DNA into a host cell chromosome are well known in the art. The chimeric DNA may also be carried within a recombinant vector, e.g., a plasmid.

Plasmids useful as the vector backbone include plasmids containing replicon and control sequences which are derived from species compatible with the host cell. The vector may also contain an inducible promoter and marker gene, e.g., antibiotic resistance.

Introduction of the chimeric DNA to the host cell may be effected by any method known to those skilled in the art. For example, if a recombinant vector carries the DNA, the vector can be introduced, for example, by transformation, electroporation, or phage transfection.

The detection techniques noted above can be used initially to verify that the method of the present invention is working, i.e., that the fusion surface protein has been expressed and transported to the bacterial cell surface and is orientated so that the target protein is accessible i.e., displayed.

Cells that display the target may be separated from those that do not, using, for example, affinity separation techniques. Such techniques include affinity column chromatography, batch elution from affinity matrix material and fluorescent-activated cell sorting.

MopE is a major outer membrane protein of M. capsulatus. It contains surface-exposed regions but its exact folding and association with the cell surface is not known. Under copper limitations, the C-terminal part of the protein is secreted into the growth medium, but considerable amounts of the full-length protein remains associated with the cell surface. By using this protein as an anchor it is possible to mediate translocation of passenger proteins to the cell surface or to the extracellular environment. Other outer membrane proteins according to the invention are MopC, MopD and MopF. These outer membrane proteins share structure similarities and it is thus anticipated that also these proteins can be used for the expression of heterologous proteins in M. capsulatus.

In order to establish the expression system according to the invention, and to illustrate the concept of the invention, fusion proteins composed of MopE and the VP2 protein of the infectious pancreatic necrosis (IPN) virus were constructed. The proteins were expressed in M. capsulatus (Bath) and their location within the cell was investigated.

Bacterial Strains and Growth Conditions

M. capsulatus (Bath) was obtained from the National Collections of Industrial and Marine Bacteria (NCIMB 1132). E. coli DH5 was used for routine cloning purposes and E. coli S17-1 was used as a donor strain in the conjugation experiments. Both strains were grown in Luria-Bertani (LB) medium supplemented with the appropriate antibiotic. M. capsulatus was grown with methane as a carbon source in nitrate mineral salts (NMS) medium (Whittenbury et al. 1970). Cells grown in medium supplemented with 1 mg/1 CuS04-5H₂O are referred to as “high copper cells”. Cells referred to as “low copper cells” were grown in NMS with no copper added and containing the modifications of Stolyar et al. (1999).

Recombinant DNA Techniques

Four different DNA fragments were amplified by PCR. These encoded the immediate upstream region of the smmo operon, the N-terminal region of MopE, the F2 region of the VP2 protein, and the C-terminal, secreted region of MopE. The primers used for the amplifications are listed in Table I.

TABLE I Nucleotide sequences of primers used to amplify DNA fragments PCR amplification product^(a) Primer seguences^(b) smmo upstream region (1500) 5′-CGGATCGTTGAGCTCTTTTCCCATC-3′ (SacI) (SEQ ID. No 15) 5′-GCTAAGTGCCATATGTTGTTTCCTC-3′ (NdeI) (SEQ ID. No 16) MopE N-terminal region (722) Sp6 primer (Promega) (SEQ ID. No 17) 5′-GCGTGTCCAGGatCcCGGAGTTCGCTG-3′ (BamHI) (SEQ ID. No 18) F2 region of VP2 protein (581) 5′-CTAACAACGAACCagatctACAAAGTCAACAAC-3′ (BgIII) (SEQ ID. No 19) 5′-GAGAAGGAGACGGggatccGACCCATTGTG-3′ (BamHI) (SEQ ID. No 20) MopE C-terminal region and downstream 5′-CAGCGAACTCCGgGatCCTGGACAC-3′ (BamHI) (SEQ ID. No 21) termination signal 5′-GCTGGAAAAAGCatgCGCCCAACTC-3′ (SphI) (SEQ ID. No 22) ^(a)Length of PCR product in bp are shown in parentheses ^(b)Restriction endonuclease sites contained in the primers are shown in parentheses and their position within the primers are underlined. Mismatched nucleotides are in lowercase letters.

DNA fragments encoding the N- and C-terminal domain of MopE were amplified by PCR from the plasmid pAFpg10 (Fjellbirkeland et al. 2001). The F2 region of the VP2 protein was amplified from a plasmid containing the entire genome of VP2 (kindly provided by E. Bjering, NorBio). The 1500 bp immediate upstream region of the smmo operon was amplified from chromosomal DNA. The PCR products were cleaved with appropriate restriction enzymes and inserted into plasmid pJB3 Kml (Blatny et al. 1997). DNA was sequenced using the ABI PRISM BigDye Terminator Cycle Sequencing Ready Reaction Kit and the DNA sequencer at the University of Bergen Core Facility.

Conjugation

Conjugation between E. coli S17-1 (donor strain) and M. capsulatus was carried out essential as described by Lloyd et al. (1999). 10 ml of an over-night culture of E. coli S17-1 containing the recombinant mopE product was washed by centrifugation (7000 rpm for 5 min) and resuspended in 10 ml NMS. The E. coli suspension was mixed with 50 ml M. capsulatus (1.8 10⁸ cells/ml; A₆₀₀=0.22) and filtered down on a 0.2 μ nitrocellulose filter. The filter was incubated on NMS-agar plates under an atmosphere of methane:air:CO₂ (48:50:2) at 42° C. for 14 h. The conjugation was terminated by vortexing the filter in 10 ml NMS. To select for recombinant M. capsulatus, 200 Ïl of the cell suspension from point 4 was plated on NMS-agar plate with 30 Ïg/ml kanamycin as selective agent. The plate was incubated under an atmosphere of methane:air:CO₂ (48:50:2) until visible growth was obtained. M. capsulatus grown with 30 Ïg/ml kanamycin was shown to contain plasmid with recombinant mopE.

SDS-PAGE and Western Blotting

SDS-PAGE and Western blotting were performed as described previously (Fjellbirkeland et al. 2001). Anti-MopE antiserum was produced as described (Fjellbirkeland et al. 1997). Anti-VP2 antiserum and F2 monoclonal antibodies were provided by E. Bjering, NorBio.

Differential Fractionation of M. capsulatus

Outer membranes were isolated from M. capsulatus as described previously (Fjellbirkeland et al. 1997).

The 5′-end of the mopE gene was ligated to DNA encoding the F2 region of the VP2 protein of the IPN virus. The F2 region is a conserved neutralizing epitope of IPN virus and is thus regarded as an important component of a potential subunit vaccine against IPN in fish (Frost et al. 1995). The mopE 5′-end encoded the part of MopE that is not secreted into the growth medium. The secreted protein starts with a glycine and cleavage occurs between Ala₂₀₄, and Gly₂₀₅ of the mature protein (Fjellbirkeland et al. 2001). In order to prevent cleavage and secretion of the IPN peptide, the two amino acids in the cleavage region were changed to glycine and isoleucine, respectively. Since the C-terminal part of MopE is secreted, it seems likely that the N-terminal region of the protein is responsible for anchoring MopE to the cell wall. To investigate whether the N-terminal fragment was sufficient for outer membrane translocation of the heterologous passenger peptide, a deletion protein composed of the N-terminal non-secreted domain of MopE and the virus epitope was constructed (Constructa, FIG. 1). In Construct b (FIG. 1) the viral peptide was inserted between the N-terminal and C-terminal domain of MopE. This allowed investigations of the importance of the C-terminal part of MopE for membrane translocation.

A DNA sequence corresponding to the 1500 bp immediate upstream region of the smmo operon (Stainthorpe et al. 1990) was inserted in front of the fusion genes. Transcription of sMMO is regulated by copper (Nielsen et al. 1996; 1997). Thus, by including this promoter element it should be possible to repress/induce expression of the fusion protein by manipulating the copper level in the growth medium.

The constructs were ligated into a broad-host-range plasmid and cloned in E. coli S-17. The plasmids were subsequently transferred to M. capsulatus by conjugation. Sequencing verified that the conjugated plasmids contained the correct inserts and that PCR had not resulted in mutations of the fusion genes. The recombinant cells were grown in a low-copper medium that enhances sMMO expression (Stolyar et al. 1999) and analyzed by Western blotting. Cells containing no plasmid and cells containing the plasmid only were used as negative controls. Anti-MopE antiserum recognized a band corresponding to MopE in all cells (FIG. 2). In cells containing Construct b, three additional bands were recognized (FIG. 2, lane 4). These had approximately molecular weights of 40, 60 and 80 kDa. The calculated molecular weight of the fusion protein of Construct b is 75 kDa. MopE migrates slightly above its calculated molecular weight in SDS-PAGE (Fjellbirkeland et al. 2001) and thus the 80 kDa band most likely represents the entire fusion protein. The 40 kDa and 60 kDa band could represent truncated versions of the fusion protein but their composition will have to be studied more closely. In cells containing Construct a no fusion protein could be detected indicating that the C-terminal part of MopE is important for stabilization of the protein.

The immunoblots were also treated with polyclonal and monoclonal VP2 antiserum. These did not recognize any of the fusion proteins. This could be due to the low levels of fusion protein produced by the cells. The recombinant cells contain several copies of the plasmid and provided the promoter that drives the expression of the fusion protein is not repressed, a relatively high level of recombinant protein should be produced. The low level may thus be a result of an inefficient promoter. To investigate this, the level of sMMO was analyzed by SDS-PAGE. The gel demonstrated that pMMO rather than the sMMO was the dominant methane monooxygenase produced by the cells (FIG. 3) indicating that the smmo promoter was repressed.

The level of fusion protein in cells grown in high copper media was also analyzed. On Western blot treated with anti-MopE antiserum, low levels of fusion protein was detected (FIG. 4). This further strengthened the assumption that production of fusion protein by the low copper cells was due to leakage from a repressed promoter. Like sMMO production, MopE production is regulated by the copper level in the medium (unpublished results), and MopE could not be detected in the high copper cells. However, the 40 and 80 kDa polypeptides could be detected in cells containing Construct b, and this clearly demonstrates that these polypeptides are produced from a promoter different from the MopE promoter.

The low copper cells containing Construct b were fractionated in order to determine the cellular location of the recombinant polypeptides. The 40 kDa band was detected in the soluble fraction containing cytoplasmic and periplasmic proteins (not shown). A faint 80 kDa band was detected in the outer membrane as well as a high molecular band which could represent a dimer of the fusion protein (FIG. 5). However, due to the low level of fusion protein and the enrichment of MopE in the outer membranes, it is difficult to discriminate between fusion proteins and MopE aggregates in the gel.

A fusion protein of which a viral epitope has been inserted between the N-terminal non-secreted and C-terminal secreted domains of MopE has been expressed in M. capsulatus. The smmo promoter is repressed in low-copper media but the growth condition used in this study did not seem to derepress the promoter completely. It is possible that growth of the recombinant cells in a fermentor rather than flasks will result in more efficient expression of the fusion protein since fermentor grown cells switch more efficiently between sMMO and pMMO production than cells grown in flasks (Stanley et al. 1983).

A DNA construct composed of only the N-terminal nonsecreted part of MopE and the viral epitope did not produce any detectable fusion protein. This indicates that the C-terminal part of MopE is required in order to obtain a stable protein product. It should be noted, however, that the fusion gene of Construct b was followed by the RNA polymerase termination signal of MopE. The fusion gene of Construct a was followed by plasmid sequence and this may have resulted in unstable, not properly terminated RNA. It is thus possible that propagation of Construct a in an expression vector will result in production of a stable fusion protein.

The 80 kDa fusion protein appeared to be transported to the outer membrane of M. capsulatus. However, due to the enrichment of MopE in the outer membrane and the low levels of fusion protein, it was difficult to determine whether the observed high molecular bands represent the fusion protein or aggregates of MopE.

It has been demonstrated that it is possible to express heterologous peptides in M. capsulatus by using the native protein MopE as a fusion partner. The results indicate that the fusion protein is transported to the outer membrane but more research will be needed in order to be able to determine more specific which parts of MopE that are required for surface display/secretion.

REFERENCES

-   Blatny J M, Brautaset T, Winther-Larsen H C, Haugan K, Valla S.     (1997). Construction and use of a versatile set of broad-host-range     cloning and expression vectors based on the RK2 replicon. Appl     Environ Microbiol. 63: 370–379 -   Fjellbirkeland A, Kruger P G, Bemanian V, Hogh B T, Murrell J C,     Jensen H B. (2001) The C-terminal part of the surface-associated     protein MopE of the methanotroph Methylococcus capsulatus (Bath) is     secreted into the growth medium. Arch Microbiol. 176: 197–203. -   Frost P, Havarstein L S, Lygren B, Stahl S, Endresen C, Christie     K E. (1995) Mapping of neutralization epitopes on infectious     pancreatic necrosis viruses. J Gen Virol. 76: 1165–72. -   Lloyd J S, De Marco P, Dalton H, Murrell J C. (1999) Heterologous     expression of soluble methane monooxygenase genes in methanotrophs     containing only particulate methane monooxygenase. Arch Microbiol     171: 364–370 -   Nielsen A K, Gerdes K, Degn H, Murrell J C. (1996) Regulation of     bacterial methane oxidation: transcription of the soluble methane     mono-oxygenase operon of Methylococcus capsulatus (Bath) is     repressed by copper ions. Microbiology. 142: 1289–1296. -   Nielsen A K, Gerdes K, Murrell J C. (1997) Copper-dependent     reciprocal transcriptional regulation of methane monooxygenase genes     in Methylococcus capsulatus and Methylosinus trichosporium. Mol     Microbiol. 25: 399–409. -   Stainthorpe A C, Lees V, Salmond G P C, Dalton H, Murrell J C.     (1990). The methane monooxygenase gene cluster of Methylococcus     capsulatus (Bath). Gene 91: 27–34 -   Stanley S H, Prior S D, Leak D J, Dalton H. (1983) Copper stress     underlies the fundamental change in intracellular location of     methane mono-oxygenase in methane-oxidizing organisms: studies in     batch and continuous cultures. 7: 487–492 -   Stolyar S, Costello A M, Peeples T L, Lidstrom M E. (1999) Role of     multiple genecopies in particulate methane monooxygenase activity in     the methane-oxidizing bacterium Methylococcus capsulatus Bath.     Microbiology 145: 1235–1244 -   Whittenbury R, Phillips K C & Wilkinson J F (1970) Enrichment,     isolation and some properties of methane-utilizing bacteria. J. Gen.     Microbiol. 61: 205–218 

1. An isolated nucleotide molecule wherein the molecule has a sequence comprising the sequence of SEQ ID NO
 3. 2. The nucleotide molecule according to claim 1, wherein the nucleotide molecule codes for a surface exposed protein.
 3. The nucleotide molecule according to claim 1, wherein the nucleotide molecule further comprises a nucleotide sequence that encodes for a desired peptide or protein.
 4. The nucleotide molecule according to clam 3, wherein said peptide or protein is a drug.
 5. The nucleotide molecule according to claim 3, wherein said peptide or protein is an antigen or an antibody.
 6. The nucleotide molecule according to claim 1, wherein the nucleotide further comprises a gene that encodes for a selection marker.
 7. The nucleotide molecule according to claim 6, wherein the selection marker is an antibiotic selection marker.
 8. The nucleotide molecule according to claim 7, wherein said antibiotic selection marker is kanamycin.
 9. A recombinant vector comprising a first nucleotide sequence comprising the sequence of SEQ ID NO
 3. 10. The recombinant vector according to claim 9, wherein the nucleotide sequence further comprises a second nucleotide sequence.
 11. The recombinant vector according to claim 10, wherein said second nucleotide sequence has multiple cloning sites, and said multiple cloning sites are positioned such that insertion of a third nucleotide sequence into any one of said cloning sites operably links said third nucleotide sequence to said first nucleotide sequence.
 12. The recombinant vector according to claim 11, wherein said third nucleotide sequence codes for a desired protein or peptide.
 13. The recombinant vector according to claim 12, wherein said protein or peptide is a drug.
 14. The recombinant vector according to claim 13, wherein said protein or peptide is an antigen or an antibody.
 15. The recombinant vector according to claim 9, wherein said nucleotide sequence further comprises a gene that codes for a selection marker.
 16. The recombinant vector according to claim 15, wherein said selection marker is an antibiotic selection marker.
 17. The recombinant vector according to claim 16, wherein said antibiotic selection marker is kanamycin.
 18. The recombinant vector according to claim 9, wherein said nucleic acid further comprises a replication origin that functions in the host M. capsulatus.
 19. The recombinant vector according to claim 18, wherein said replication origin is smmo.
 20. The recombinant vector according to claim 18, wherein said replication origin is pmmo.
 21. The recombinant vector according to claim 12, wherein the desired protein is expressed in the membrane fraction of M. capsulatus.
 22. The recombinant vector according to claim 21, wherein the desired protein is expressed on the surface of the outer membrane of M. capsulatus.
 23. The recombinant vector according to claim 12, wherein the nucleotide coding for the desired protein contains a region which codes for a peptide stretch which functions as a substrate for a hydrolyzing enzyme capable of cleaving the desired protein from the remaining membrane anchored proteins, such that the desired protein is excreted to the culture medium.
 24. The recombinant vector according to claim 9, wherein the recombinant vector is a plasmid.
 25. The recombinant vector according to claim 24, wherein the plasmid is pAFpg10.
 26. A bacterial host cell transformed with the recombinant vector according to any one of claims 9–25.
 27. The bacterial host cell according to claim 26, wherein the bacterial cell is M. capsulatus.
 28. A method for producing a desired protein in a bacterial host cell, said method comprising the steps of: transforming a bacterial host cell with a recombinant vector comprising a first nucleotide sequence comprising the sequence of SEQ ID No 3, and a further nucleotide sequence that codes for said desired protein, wherein said further nucleotide sequence is operably linked in frame to said first nucleotide sequence; and culturing said transformed host cell in a suitable medium under conditions allowing expression of said desired protein.
 29. The method according to claim 28, wherein the method further comprises the step of recovering the expressed protein or peptide from the medium.
 30. The method according to claim 28, wherein the host cell is M. capsulatus.
 31. The method according to claim 30, wherein the desired expressed protein is a drug.
 32. The method according to claim 31, wherein the drug is extracted from the host cell, or used together with the host cell for the manufacturing of a vaccine.
 33. The method according to claim 31, wherein the vaccine is for oral administration.
 34. The method of claim 28, wherein the desired protein is a fusion protein containing a protein or peptide sequence encoded by a nucleotide sequence comprising the SEQ ID NO 3, and a further desired protein or peptide.
 35. The bacterial host cell according to claim 26, wherein the recombinant vector codes for a protein which is expressed in the membrane.
 36. The bacterial host cell according to claim 26, wherein the recombinant vector codes for a protein which is expressed on the surface of the outer membrane.
 37. The bacterial host cell according to claim 35, wherein the bacterial cell is M. capsulatus.
 38. The bacterial host cell according to claim 36, wherein the bacterial cell is M. capsulatus. 